Xbox, Resume History

This is a continuation of Xbox, Show History.

What exactly am I looking at?

Well, that is another Halo. Microsoft gave the gaming populous a lot to sink their teeth into in 2001. Most of us devoured Halo, mainly due it being shipped with every new console. A great move, echoing what Nintendo did with Super Mario World and the SNES, which would pay dividends for years to come.

2002 arrived, and with it came disputes with Nvidia over pricing of their chip; it was the main component driving the $299 price tag. Thankfully, behind closed doors, the price dropped in 2003. Microsoft was in need of a product to show the world that 2001 wasn’t a fluke, and they did just that. Twice. 

It is live–Xbox Live.

Remember that little thing called Xbox Live, which would supposedly roll out within a year of the launch of Xbox? I do. All too well, as I was lucky enough to have a friend who had gotten into the testing phases. Coolest. Guy. Ever.

My biggest surprise about Xbox Live was that it actually worked, and it did its job very well. I was playing Mech Assault and Moto GP against people 5,000 miles away, I was on my sofa with a controller in my hand. Heaven would arrive November 15^th 2002, and it would gain nearly 250,000 subscribers within 3 months.

I need a weapon.

Some believe that to be first quoted by Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 during the starting level of Halo 2; they’d be wrong. It was quoted by Bill Gates when talking to Bungie Studios about 2002 and beyond. Maybe. E3 rolled around, and Halo 2 was an obvious addition to the Xbox game library, but what was revealed to the world at E3 was ground-breaking. Would it become the Empire Strikes Back of the gaming world? We would not know until 2004, way to tease.

Halo 2 was an obvious addition to the Xbox game library, but what was revealed to the world at E3 was ground-breaking. Would it become the Empire Strikes Back of the gaming world?

We got our weapon though, in the form of a revised controller ‘S’. We can, in part, thank Japan for this–the overwhelming feedback about the bulkiness of the original controller lead to the redesign. All hail Japan.

Try the all new Xbox diet, within a year you can lose 77% of your original size.

With 2002 out of the way; what will 2003 bring? Maybe we can use the Force to see into the future.

I loved the redesign. It had a better form factor and meant I could play for even longer! How about you?